Secondary Navigation

Primary Navigation

Grinspoon’s Phil Jamieson on The White Album Concert

It’s hard to believe that The Beatles’ The White Album has graced our planet for 50 years. In celebration of one of the most popular and incomparable albums of the 20th century, a who’s who of Aussie rock are joining forces for the third time, to perform both A and B records from start to finish.

It’ll be a night of entertainment from the likes of Phil Jamieson (Grinspoon), Tim Rogers (You Am I), Chris Cheney (The Living End) and Josh Pyke, with the addition of a 17 piece orchestra.

To discuss the upcoming White Album Concert, we chatted with Phil Jamieson hot on the heels of his national tour with Grinspoon.

Initially, the White Album Concert toured the country to sold-out venues in 2009 and again in 2014, making this the third time these guys are getting together to celebrate this album. The punters obviously love it, but what is it that keeps Phil coming back each time?

“Number one, I think it is the material. The White Album from start to finish is a pretty crazy album! It’s really diverse and there’s elements of it that don’t make a lot of sense, but I love it.

“Number two, I think it’s the people I’m working alongside. The incredible band who are just unbelievable and then obviously Tim, Josh and Chris who are great friends and great musicians as well.”

With the entire 30 songs played in order, the catalogue is evened out across the four leading artists who bring decades of experience to the show. While The White Album remains set in stone, Phil contemplates how he feels about performing the songs this time around.

“I think it changes each time. I guess sometimes you’ve gotta dig a little bit deeper into the songs to find something.

“Sometimes, on the sheer veneer of it, it might not be that attractive, but if you dig a bit deeper and if you can work it out within the context of where it sits in the record, then it becomes a little bit like a bright diamond.”

And how much preparation is involved?

“Tim’s come up with a bit of a master plan of what to do, so I’ve been practising the stuff that I want to do at home. I’ve started now, but obviously we’ve still got pre-production, dress rehearsals, tech rehearsals all leading up to the week of the first show in Melbourne.”

Independently, the four guys’ careers span a number of decades in the Aussie music scene and have made their mark across various music genres. Can punters expect to see one big jam session amongst friends or is there a competitive streak between them?

“Josh is the least competitive! Chris and I started in bands around the same time I guess, and we were both on very similar trajectories in some ways. I don’t know. I guess maybe when we first started doing the tour there was a bit more of a competitive outset to it. Nowadays I just think we’re all in it for the love of it more than anything else.

“The other three gentlemen are really encouraging, it’s like we have our own little team, The White Album Team. You know if we are struggling with anything, I always ask, ‘How was that? Could I make that better?’ When you can ask Tim Rogers for advice you’re pretty lucky!”

We couldn’t agree more.

The White Album Concert is due to kick off in Melbourne on July 13 and circle the country, visiting Newcastle, Brisbane, Canberra, Adelaide, Perth and Sydney.